Invincible
by BoogaHP1D
Summary: When all of the other Samurai rangers get sick, it's up to Mike to get them all better, alone. But with all of the nighlock attacks, stress, and five sick rangers, Will he rise to the occasion or crumble under the pressure?
1. Chapter 1

_I do not own Power Rangers_

Emily woke up with a start and looked up at her clock. 4:24. A.M. The sharp pains in her stomach and her achy body was making it hard for her to receive any sleep. She brushed her hand against her forehead to check for a fever and sure enough, her temperature was well above normal. In all short, she felt like crap.

Suddenly, her stomach made a horrendous jolt and she dashed into the bathroom. As she violently threw up into the toilet, Mia walked in with a surprised look on her face.

"Emily, Oh my goodness. Are you alright?" Mia began, panic and worry etched in her voice. "You look awful." Emily finished throwing up and Mia flushed the toilet to get rid of the bile. She went and grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom closet, wet it with water, and plastered it across Emily's sweltering forehead.

"Yeah," Emily responded with a raspy voice, "I feel good too." A chuckle from Mia turned foul as she found her way into a coughing fit.

"Mia, Are you okay?" was all that Emily could get out. After brutal minutes of silence, save for Mia's coughing, it died down and she cleared her throat, getting ready to speak.

"Not really." She knew that she had to be honest. Mia hadn't felt good since training the morning before and knew that being in denial about it would only make her symptoms worse. By her deductive reasoning, Mia knew that Emily and herself had caught a bug and the only way to reduce the effects was with sleep.

"We should probably get back into bed, we need our rest." Mia said quietly, so as not to affect her voice and Emily nodded in obligation. Slowly, Emily and Mia both helped each other off of the floor and into their beds and Emily fell right asleep. Mia, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. Her aches and pains kept her twisting and turning for over a half and hour. Then, a single thought hit her like a train.

_The Boys. _They must have caught the bug too. She couldn't think of a minute when they were separated, besides dressing and washing of course. They had trained together all day. And the boys weren't taking many precautions against germs. Mia practically saw Mike lick food off of the ground, and although Mentor took great pride in his clean house, she was sure Mike was going to come down with something.

These thoughts plagued her mind as she drifted asleep, after finding a comfortable position. As the big sister of the group, she was worried for everyone, especially when they were injured or ill. She could only hope that by morning she felt better and that the boys weren't sick. Or else it would create a huge problem. Huge.

Kevin was instantly awoken with a snot-soaked pillow and as he jolted, his head started to ache. He knew that everyone saw how lethargic he was in training, even Mike, who Kevin claimed was the most oblivious person on the planet. He really wasn't feeling well and he wished that all of the pain would go away. He didn't need to be sick right then. Kevin was too busy to be sick.

He turned his head to see a passed out Mike, snoring like a lion's roar. Kevin felt his forehead, abnormally hot he observed, and quietly got up to go get a drink of water. Making his way into the kitchen, Kevin heard two voices talking. They sounded an awful lot like Jayden and Antonio, and Kevin stealthily hid behind the refrigerator to hear what they had been talking about.

"Are you sure we don't have any medicine?" Antonio whined.

"I'm sure. Rangers don't normally get sick, and the monster who poisoned us all caused us to use up all of our resources." Jayden tried to utter, but his apparent sore throat was making it hard for him to speak.

"But I don't feel good!" The whiny voice complained again.

"Tell you what. Tomorrow, if we don't feel any better, I'll ask mentor to head out and buy some more medicine for us." Jayden said.

"Okay," Antonio obliged "But what do we do in the meantime?"

"I guess we just try to sleep it off." Jayden replied calmly.

"Alright, let's go."

As soon as Jayden and Antonio headed off to bed for the night, Kevin snuck out to grab his water. _I can't believe they're sick too. I hope I didn't give it to them, whatever it is I have. _Kevin, having a full glass of water in hand walked back to his shared room. He had decided to wake up Mike to see how he was feeling, although his plan was just about as smart as poking a bear. Mike was an incredibly deep sleeper, and any interruptions would make him kick and scream in the midst of his dreams.

Kevin quickly walked over to the green ranger's bed, not wanting to waste time, and started to try and wake Mike up. After a span of five long minutes, Mike finally woke up to a state in which he could comprehend what his friend was saying.

"What Kevin?!" He exclaimed "I'm trying to sleep."

"I know, I'm sorry!" Kevin apologized "I just had a question."

"A question that couldn't wait til morning? Dude! It's five o'clock" Mike complained.

"Come on, we all know that you've stayed up later than this playing video games." Kevin countered.

"Alright," Mike sat up, "What's your question?" Kevin hesitated "Well spit it out." Mike was beginning to get irritated with his friend. First, he wakes him up, and now he won't tell him why he had woke him up.

"Are you feeling alright?" Kevin blurted quickly.

"What?"

"Do you feel alright?"

"I know. I heard. What do you mean?"

"Do you feel sick?" Kevin asked again.

"No. Why?"

"Oh, I don't know? Maybe from the fact that you like food off of the floor yesterday! Why wouldn't you feel good?" Then, there was an awkward silence.

"Kevin...stop worrying! I'm fine! Never been better!" Mike finally said.

"That's what they all say." Kevin mumbled.

"What?"

"Never mind, just go back to sleep."

"Whatever." And with that, Mike fell back into his dreams. Kevin, however, was still concerned, so he put his hand across Mike's forehead and was shocked to find it cool to the touch. As Kevin walked back to his bed, many thoughts drifted into his aching mind. _How did I get sick and Mike didn't? I mean, he practically attracts germs! I hope I'm better by morning. I hope we all are._ When Kevin laid down, his aches eased and he was finally able to fall into a somewhat peaceful sleep, awaiting for what he hoped to be a better morning.


	2. The Next Morning

_I do not own Power Rangers._

When Mike woke up from his blissful sleep, he was surprised to hear coughing coming from the other side of the room.

"Kev, you okay man?" Mike asked, concerned for the blue ranger. He got up off of his bed and ran over to Kevin to make sure that he was alright. Kevin coughing died down and he looked over to his friend.

"I don't feel good." He sputtered, voice rough from all of the coughing. Mike hesitated.

"So this is why you were asking me if I felt alright." He finally said with a low voice, although he was quite proud of figuring something out on his own.

"Yeah, can you get me a glass of water? I'm thirsty." Kevin asked.

"Sure, do you want anything else? Medicine or anything?". There was a silence where Kevin was deciding what he needed.

"Can I have a blanket? I'm cold."

"Sure dude, I'll be right back." With that, Mike walked out of the room and down the hallway into the kitchen to get his friend some water. On his way there, Mike had billions of questions rushing through his mind. _How did Kevin get sick? Kevin is one of the biggest clean freaks I know! How am I not sick? I licked the ground for god's sake!_ These questions pondered in his mind until he was awoken from his thoughts with loud coughing coming from the girls' room.

Concerned with the hacking, which seemed to be coming from both girls, Mike entered, only to be met with a terrible sight. Mia and Emily were both violently coughing and it seemed like they had been for a while. Mike ran over to them.

"Are you guys OK?" He asked and waited for a response from either of them. After about a minute, which seemed like forever to Mike, he got a reply from Mia.

"Neither of us feel very good." Mia said.

"Great." Mike mumbled.

"What was that?" Mia asked, as she hadn't heard what he had said.

"Nothing," he replied,"Do you two need anything? Water? Blankets?"

"Blankets sound nice." Emily finally said from the other side of the room.

"And water." Mia added.

"Alright, two blankets and two waters coming right up. You two rest up." Mike finished and decided to check up on Jayden and Antonio to see if they weren't feeling good as well. He was hoping that they were, so that he wasn't alone in taking care of all of the rangers. Ji was off on an expedition in Japan and he thought that the rangers could take care of themselves for a couple of weeks. As he walked into the final room, he was greeted with a sleeping Antonio and sounds coming from the bathroom. Before he went to check on who assumed to be Jayden, he put his hand on Antonio's forehead and felt the heat radiating onto it. Then Mike went to check up on the red ranger in the bathroom.

When he entered, Mike saw Jayden now curled up on the floor, probably after finishing puking. Hayden took notice of Mike and sat up.

"Hey Mike." He said flatly. Mike went over to him and helped him stand up to get back into bed. Jayden, as tough as he was, looked weak and Mike wanted to make sure that he wasn't overdoing it.

Once Jayden was settled in bed, Mike walked over to wake Antonio up. He wanted to see if the boys needed anything.

"Antonio, buddy, wake up." Mike whispered as he gently nudged the gold ranger. Antonio mumbled some incoherent rambling before finally processing that the green ranger was standing above him.

"What's up Mike?" He asked.

"Nothing with me. Everyone else is sick," and he walked to the middle of the room. "Do you guys need anything?". Antonio and Jayden both gave each other a look before Antonio started listing off what they needed.

"Blankets, water, medicine, teddy bears..."

"Antonio," Mike interrupted, "I only have two hands, but I'll bring what I can and make sure you get better."

"Thanks." Jayden said, sounding congested.

"Now you two get some sleep and I'll be back later with some stuff and to check up on you."

"Alright." Antonio muttered and both sick boys fell right asleep. Mike walked back into the hallway to go grab water and blankets for everyone. Once he got into the kitchen, he grabbed five glasses and went to the sink to fill them. As he filled that glasses one by one, every thought that rang through his mind was panicking. He didn't think he could do this. Here he was, easily the most irresponsible person in the house, taking care of five sick people without help, and he would have to handle any nighlok attacks alone. His head ached at the thought, but he was sure that it didn't compare to the pain that his friends were in.

Mike decided that he would need a tray to carry all of their rangers their drinks , so he went to grab one from the cabinet. Then, he went to the closet and grabbed five extra blankets and began to stack the tray with the blankets to get it all done in one load. When all of the blankets and drinks were distributed, Mike started making breakfast for himself. Surprisingly, with all of his nerves, he wasn't feeling that hungry, so he made a small bowl of cereal for himself, but was finished halfway through and he put the remaining cereal in the sink.

Mike walked back to his room to get ready for training. He knew that if he was flying solo that he would have to be working really hard, as well as taking good care of the others, in order for them to get better. Once he was in his training gear, Mike went into the dojo and diligently began whacking at a training dummy.

Pulse racing, Mike was almost unstoppable, as he punched and kicked on the dummy. His concern and nervousness was translated into anger and intensity and he didn't realize the time was flying by. At around 11, Mike went to check on the others and he discovered that they had all finished their waters and were asking him for more.

While he was refilling the glasses, the gap sensor began to sound, and Mike heard movement coming from the bedroom. _They're definitely trying to fight. _He raced out of the kitchen and put them all back into bed, reassuring them that he could take care out it and that they were too ill to fight.The toughest to convince to rest were Jayden and Kevin, always the ones ready to fight. Although they put up a fight, Mike was finally able to persuade them to go back to bed, and he flew out of the Shiba house like a pistol. The plaguing thoughts that filled his mind controlled him as he was running into the city. _What am I doing? I can't do this without help. Why should I even try? I'm already going to lose. I'm not good enough to fight a nighlok alone. I never have, and I never will. Even when I'm with a team, we're always cutting it close. I won't even make a dent in him. What am I getting myself into?_

As he finished his dash and turned to face the deformed nighlok, a final thought raced through Mike's mind. _I'm not the best, but I've got to try. I have to be invincib_le.


	3. Round One

_I do not own Power Rangers._

* * *

He was a rather strange nighlock, Mike had never seen anything like it. He was surprised to have thought this, but some of the nighlock did look similar. This particular one had a ninja star- esque weapon and his claws were obscenely long. Mike knew to steer clear of them. He was tall and lanky and his entire body was covered in jagged spikes that could easily tear through many things. The green power ranger had know idea what he was up against.

"Hey greenie! Where's the rest of your colorful crew?" he began, "Too scared to face me?"

"No way!" Mike retorted,"Why would they be scared?" The words just flew out of his mouth. With that, Mike lunged at the nighlock, only for it to dodge the strike. The nighlock leaped backwards, out of Mike's reach. Mike attacked again and a back and forth battle ensued, no one participant winning or losing, but over time, Mike began to gain the upper hand. The nighlock was wearing out, and drying up. As Mike began to hear the well-known cracking noise, the nighlock threw himself backwards again.

"NO ONE DEFEATS TEMPERINJANTUS!" The nighlock roared, reminding Mike of it's infamy. "STAR SWIRL ATTACK!"

Suddenly, several ninja stars began flying out of Temperinjantus's hand, aimed directly at the green ranger. He tried as best as he could to block them all, while the nighlock stood in the same position and laughed evilly. The stars were still pouring out of his hands and Mike started to think that it would never end. Then, the nighlock bellowed something unheard of.

"DOUBLE STAR ATTACK!" The nighlock drew two perpendicular lines with his claws, and they crashed into the green ranger, effectively demorphing him. Mike wasn't going to let one strike put him out for good, so he stood up, and charged the nighlock. It once again leaped backwards, sending a multitude of undodgeable attacks at Mike. As he repelled them to the best of his ability, thoughts started to flood into his mind.

I knew this would happen. I knew he would win. I'm not good enough . I can't win. Why did I even try? Consumed in his thoughts, Mike failed to see a star aimed directly at his knee.

"Agh!" Mike fell to the ground and began to writhe in pain. Without his suit, he took the attack full force. When he removed his hand, Mike instantly regretted it. Through his torn pant leg, Mike saw a deep, bloody gash. He also underestimated the force of the stars, as his leg was now bent into an odd position.

Through the ringing in his ears, Mike could make out the nighlock laughing, followed by cracking, followed by unidentifiable words. When the green ranger looked up again, the nighlock was gone. Mike had the instinct that the nighlock had retreated to the netherworld, as he could make out a faint red glow on a curb corner. He was exhausted, soaked in sweat, not to mention the injury, and all he wanted to do was to go the the shiba house and sleep. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option. He knew that he would have to get home soon, or else his sick friends would think something had gone wrong.

Mike trudged home, as fast as he could go without bringing his injuries any attention. His whole body was in pain, because not only did he have a deep gash by his knee, he was blatantly exhausted. Suddenly, his samuraizer started to buzz. It was Mia. He mustered up his best possible voice and answered the call.

"Hey Mia," he started nonchalantly, "How are you guys?"

"We're all fine...we'll not fine, but... You know what I mean." She answered. "What about you? You've been gone an awful long time and..."

"Mia, I'm fine," he interrupted. "I'm on my way back right now. Don't sweat it. I'll probably be there in about five minutes."

"Alright. Are you ok? You sound kind of weird." Mia questioned, concerned for her younger ranger.

"Mia, don't stress out. You're sick. I'll be back to take care of you soon. Please just rest until I get there."

"Ok, I'll give you ten minutes to get back." Mia responded, with a mother-like tone in her voice.

"Ok mom, I'll be home soon." Mike answered and hung up. He was going to have to book it back to the shiba house. At his rate, it would take him at least ten minutes to get there. As he picked up his pace, many new thoughts raced through his mind.

How am I supposed to take care of all of my friends? Oh, what am I gonna do? I can't do this. I am one of the least responsible people on the planet. How, just, how?

He finally reached the shiba house after what seemed to be an eternity of walking. He walked inside only to find a very frail appearing Mia staring at the now open door.

"Hey Mia, what's up?" He asked, trying to sound innocent.

"What's up? You've been gone for almost two and a half hours and we were so nervous. We didn't know what had happened to you. We thought you might be hurt."

"Nope, I'm fine. Now you go back to bed and I'll bring you all some tea in a minute, once I clean up and everything." Mia stuck her hand out onto Mike's forehead.

"What are you doing?" He asked her as he took he had off.

"Are you feeling ok?" She asked mockingly, "You're acting, responsible!"

"Ha ah very funny. I mean it, go back to bed." Mike answered.

"Alright mom." Mia responded as a play to his earlier joke. She walked down the hall and into her and Emily's room. Mike started down the hall, to grab clothes from the laundry room before heading into the bathroom to take a shower. As he inspected his wound from the battle, he was surprised to find truely how bad it looked. It was deep, bloody, and dirty, and Mike hoped that it wasn't infected.

He got into the shower and hissed when the hot water touched his skin. He scrub his wounds as gently but thoroughly as he could and got out. He wrapped his wound in as much gauze as he could and make a wooden splint to hide under his pant leg to contain his leg. He hoped that none of his friends noticed the bulk coming from underneath. As he walked out of the bathroom, he realized that he had promised his friend tea and decided to act upon it.

Mike threw his clothes in the washing machine and walked back into the kitchen. He grabbed a kettle, filled it with water, and turned the heat on high. As he waited for the water to boil, his exhaustion began to catch up to him. He was constantly yawning and he wished that he could just lie down and sleep for the rest of the day. In the midst of his daydreaming, he hadn't even realized that the kettle was making the high pitched whirring sound. As he pulled it off of the stove with a yawn, and sluggishly proceeded to finish the tea, Mike knew that he had a freakishly long couple of days ahead of him.

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**AN- Thanks for all of the reviews! I'm kind've stuck on where to go next. I want to ask you how much fluff I should add. Leave a comment so I can get the next chapter up soon!**


	4. The Sick Rangers

_I do not own Power Rangers_

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Once the tea was finished, Mike put all of the cups on a tray and brought it out to his ill team members. He stopped in Mia and Emily's room first.

"Hey, how are you guys feeling?" He asked, without really needing to. They both looked horrible, sporting red noses and desperately trying to find a comfortable position.

"Like I've been hit by a truck." Emily responded, voice hoarse. She waved Mike over to her bed and she grabbed a cup off of the tray. "Thanks." Mike put the tray down on her nightstand.

"No problem. Just be careful, it's kinda…" He was interrupted by Emily spitting out the tea all over his face.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." She tried to climb out of bed to help Mike clean her mess up, but he pushed her back down. He grabbed the towel from his shoulder and wiped the tea off of his face.

"It's fine Em," he said nonchalantly, "Just get some rest, Ok."

"Alright mom." Emily responded with a grin. He chuckled and leaned down to give her a kiss on the forehead. _Mia must've put her up to it, _Mike thought, making his way over to the pink ranger.

"How are you holding up?" The green ranger asked, sticking his hand out to check her temperature. She was still burning up.

"I'm fine." She said.

"Don't lie to me. I know you feel like shit. Just tell me so I can make you feel better."

"Fine, I don't feel good. My head hurts, I'm all stuffed up, my throat is killing me, and my stomach is in bits. And, the boys are sick too, and Emily, and everything is on you and..." She trailed off, her anger growing. He gave her a sympathetic smile and sat down on her bed.

"Mia, I know this is hard for you. You're mama pink, it's in your nature to get worried when your friends are sick, but even moms get sick sometimes. You need to take a break and rest. I can handle it, really. I just want you guys to get better. Alright. So, just rest, sleep is the best medicine." He said, and stood up.

"When did you get so smart?" Emily asked teasingly.

"I've always been a genius." Mike insisted.

"Really." Mia said, deadpan etched across her face.

"Well, when I was little, my mom used to tell me all of these things when I was sick. Sleeping, drinking lots of water, more sleeping. It kinda stuck. I haven't been sick in years. And, when she got sick, I had to take care of her, because she did such a great job taking care of me.

"Awwwwwwwww…" Mia and Emily sighed.

"You're so sweet." Mia said. Emily nodded in agreement.

"Now I mean it, get some sleep. I'll check up on you in a bit." He said sternly. He grabbed the tray and started to walk out of the room when Emily piped up.

"One more kiss?" She asked innocently.

"I really don't want your germs."

"C'mon, I don't have cooties."

"Yeah, but you are sick."

"One kiss won't hurt. You are my boyfriend. You're supposed to love me."

"I do love you."

"But you won't kiss me."

"I don't want to get sick."

"Please…" She pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

"You're lucky I love you." He walked over and planted a kiss on her lips.

"Ewww…, no PDA's." Mia said.

"What about you and Kevin?" Emily said.

"That's different." Mia blushed.

"Whatever." Emily rolled her eyes and Mike walked out into the hallway. Mia noticed that Mike was walking a little funny. She looked at Emily, who was laying back down and made a mental note to ask him about it later. Meanwhile, Mike walked into the gold and red ranger's bedroom.

"Hey. How are you guys?"

"I'm fine. I actually feel a lot better. I think that I can train…" Jayden started to get up but was met with a glare from Mike that pressured him back into bed. He walked over and put his hand on the red ranger's forehead to find it very warm.

"Dammit. You're all still running high fevers. I'll go try and find some some fever reducers."

"Don't bother. We don't have any." A formerly sleeping Antonio said grumpily with a full on pout spread across his face.

"Why not?" Mike asked. If they didn't have any medicine, he was going to have to leave them all alone again to get some, and he really didn't want to that he didn't have to.

"Remember when Yamiror poisoned everyone except for Kevin?" Jayden started. The green ranger nodded while the gold ranger was listening intently, as he wasn't a member of the team yet. "Well, we used up all of the medicine trying to bring us back to health. I would have asked mentor get us some, but he's away and if we tell him he might worry and want to come back. He was skeptical about leaving us alone. Thought we couldn't handle it."

Mike looked away, with a mixture of sadness and anger on his face, and Antonio eased back into his pillow. The green ranger put the tray on Jayden's dresser and brought a cup to each of his teammates. He was still concerned with the fact that the Shiba house was clear out of medicine, but he couldn't risk leaving them alone again, especially as it seemed they weren't getting any better.

"Mike." Antonio croaked.

"Yeah."

"Do we have anymore blankets?"

"I can check."

"Alright," he paused, " Do we have any teddy bears?"

"I'm sorry buddy, probably not. It's not every day that a samurai ranger needs a teddy bear."

"Ok, thanks for trying." Antonio said dejectedly, with a childlike tone. Mike, feeling bad, thought of a response."

"Tell you what, I'll see if I can make one with my symbol power, after you get some rest." Antonio smiled instantly.

"Gracias amigo."

"You're welcome buddy. Now both of you..." Mike paused and glared at Jayden," Get some rest." With that, Mike grabbed the tray and started to walk into the hallway.

"Alright mom."

"Sí madre."

"Seriously, when did that catch on?" Mike muttered, and walked into his and Kevin's room. Jayden also noticed Mike walking with a limp. He blamed it on his nausea and dizziness.

"Mike would tell us if he was hurt, right?" Jayden asked the gold ranger, but when he looked over, he saw that Antonio almost asleep. Taking it as a sign of his own drowsiness, Jayden found the most comfortable position and drifted off, Mike's limp still pressing his mind.

In the hallway, Mike was having a hard time blocking out his pain. He knew that he needed to be strong for his friends, but his injury, added with the newly increasing swings of dizziness and nausea, were making it extremely hard. Trying to decrease the noticeability of his limp so that the blue ranger wouldn't find out, he walked into his room, only to find a sleeping Kevin.

"Thank God he knows what to do." Mike muttered, but once he made a sound, Kevin started to stir. "Oh shit, Mike, can't you keep your mouth shut." He reprimanded himself as Kevin sat up.

"Is that tea?" Kevin asked hoarsely.

"Yeah." Mike brought him the final cup. Kevin took a sip and put it on his nightstand. "How are you feeling?"

"Ok."

"Really." Mike deadpanned.

"No."

"You're just like Mia."

"Why? Is she ok? I have to go see her…"Kevin started to panic but Mike instantly calmed him down.

"She's fine. Just lying to me about how she feels. No need to worry." Kevin eased back into his pillow while Mike sat on his own bed.

"So, how are you?" Kevin asked.

"Seriously Kevin, stop worrying. You're the sick one." Mike reprimanded.

"But I want to know about you. You had to face a nighlock alone, and you were gone a long time. I was worried."

"I'm fine. He dried out before I could get to him."

"What? Mike, it doesn't take that long for them to dry out. Something had to have happened."

"This one must have been tougher." Mike said, standing up. He wasn't ready for the jolt of pain and nausea and had to keep himself from wincing. Kevin noticed the change of expression on Mike.

"Are you sure you're fine, I mean.."

"Kevin, I'm fine...stop worrying." Mike tried to say nicely through his gritted teeth.

"Alright." Kevin wanted to know more, but he was too tired to press on.

"Get some rest." Mike said as he grabbed the tray and walked out. Kevin was still worried about his friend though, as he too, noticed the slight limp. Mike was known to be a good liar, and he didn't want his friend to suffer if he was hurt. Kevin took another sip of his tea and lied back down. There was no use of him questioning Mike if he was exhausted. Soon, all thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind as he fell into a deep slumber.

Mike walked back into the common room and sat down on one of the stools, pulling his knee into his chest and lifting his pant leg. He saw that his bandages weren't holding out and muttered a few cursed words. _I'll replace them later._ He thought to himself, and pulled his pant leg down.

The rest of the evening went along slowly for Mike, taking care of his sick friends while trying to avoid the pain in his leg and his increasing headache. Although there had been some good moments. Mike had gotten to see a giddy, childlike Antonio when he pulled a teddy bear made from symbol power out from behind his back. The green ranger still chuckled at the thought.

Once the rest of the rangers were asleep, Mike went into the bathroom to change his bandages again, before he fell asleep. He noticed that the bleeding had stopped, but it seemed that it looked more gruesome that before, and it hurt like hell. He pushed it to the back of his mind though, knowing that his friends were suffering a lot more. He got out of the bathroom and walked back into the common room. He looked at the clock. 10:14.

Mike knew that he couldn't risk waking Kevin up, or getting sick, so he grabbed a spare pillow from the closet and fell asleep on the floor in the common room. He wasn't comfortable, and he was freezing, but his friends needed the extra blankets more that he did. They were sick after all.

Exhaustion pulled Mike into its arms, but not before his mind pulsated with thoughts on how to defeat the nighlock, how to make his friends well again, and an awful headache. _It'll be gone in the morning._ Mike thought, pushing the negative thoughts away, as he fell into a soft sleep.

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**A/N- Sorry about the long waits. I'm really busy. Reviews are awesome!**


	5. Importance

_I do not own power rangers_

The green ranger woke up with a start, cold sweat forming on his forehead. Mike had just woken up from a nightmare, not the first of the night. His nightmares plagued his mind with terrible things, and he was truly terrified. In the most recent one, all of his friends got extremely sick to a point where they couldn't be rangers anymore and he had to save the world by himself. Eventually, the pressure got to his dream self and Master Xandred had brutally killed him. Mike saw his own death, he had a right to be scared.

But he couldn't show it. He had to be strong for his friends. They were sick and they needed him. They needed him to be strong. But he was cracking. He was injured, alone, and he was scared. All of his insecurities of his worth flooded into his mind. _I'm not good enough. They don't need me. Why do I even try to be strong? We all know that I'm worthless.I know it, and they know it. I'm useless. I'll end up like my dream self. Going down without a good fight. _

Pushing away these thoughts, Mike rubbed his eyes and pushed away his exhaustion. and looked outside. He saw sunlight streaming in through the windows, and decided that it was time for him to get up. He stood up, but had to steady himself on a stool when he began to feel dizzy. The dull pounding in his head began to settle and he walked out of the common room.

He quietly put the pillow back in the closet and went to his room to check on Kevin and grab some clothes. When he walked in, he saw that Kevin was still asleep. Mike looked over at the clock on his nightstand. 8:32. Mike couldn't believe it. Even though the blue ranger was sick, he still thought he would be awake at ungodly hour, asking for some water or a blanket. The green ranger, still in shock, walked over to his dresser and grabbed some clean underwear, and picked up some training clothes from the floor. He knew Kevin would yell at him if he saw this, but Kevin was sick, so Mike could get away with it.

Mike went into the bathroom to change his clothes and bandages. As he ripped the old bandages of of his injured leg, Mike could definitely see that it was infected, and the negligence of care plus his constant walking weren't making it any better. He knew that it hurt, but he had to suffer through the pain, and it had sort of become numb. He cleaned it to the best of his ability, and although he had to stifle a few screams, it was clean, and that was all that mattered. He undressed and put on the somewhat clean pair of clothes and walked out of the bathroom, only to hear coughing coming from Kevin.

The green ranger quickly refilled the blue ranger's glass of water and handed it back. When the coughing ceased, Kevin rested back into his pillow.

"How are you feeling?", Mike asked his friend.

"Much better actually. Thanks for the water, by the way."

"You're welcome… do you need anything? Are you hungry, or thirsty? Do you need more blankets?" Mike stood up and started to race out of the room, but Kevin settled his on edge friend.

"Mike, I'm fine. Calm down…" Mike eased and sat back down on his bed.

"Are you sure?"

"I am kind of hungry," Kevin admitted, "Can you make me some toast?"

"Sure" Mike answered, uplifted, and stood up, when a dizzy spell almost knocked him on his butt. Kevin saw the green ranger wavering on his feet and became concerned.

"Mike...Mike?" Kevin's voice seemed far out to Mike, and he had to breathe through his clouded mind to hear it. "Mike, are you okay?" Mike finally mustered up the strength to respond.

"Yeah, I'm fine...Why?" He asked nonchalantly as he started to walk out of his and Kevin's room.

"Because you're limping, " Kevin responded.

"No I'm not… What are you talking about?" Mike rebounded quickly.

"Dude, I know it's not just the fever this time… Just, _please_, be careful...We can't have you hurt right now…"Kevin said, insensitively. Mike looked back at Kevin, hurt.

"Thanks for caring about me… I really appreciate it…" Mike stormed out into the hallway, trying to keep the tears in, and leaving Kevin confused. He was having a hard enough time, and Kevin's comment only made it worse. It made him feel disposable. He felt like he was being used. Once everyone was healthy, he wasn't needed anymore. He wasn't valuable. He walked into the kitchen and made some toast for his so-called best friend. He dropped the toast off quickly into Kevin's room without a word to the blue ranger and headed to the dojo for some training.

Mike didn't hesitate to start relentlessly beating one of the dummies. He had so many emotions traveling through his brain that he didn't even see Mia walk in. When he decided that he needed a water break, he saw the pink ranger and concern grew onto his face.

"Hey." She said sheepishly, from the bench she had been seated on for ten minutes.

"Mia, what're you doing out of bed? You're sick...I'll…"

"Mike, I'm fine… I'm worried about you…" She reassured him, as he sat next to her.

"Why are you worried? I'm fine…" Mike asked.

"Kevin called me, he said you seemed upset about something." She said comfortingly. He started to cough, so he took a swig from his water bottle and stood up, fighting back the nausea it caused.

"Nope, nothing's wrong, I'm fine." He said, trying to get around the subject, while picking up his practice weapon. Mia noticed him leaning to one side and decided it was time to confront him about it.

"Mike, what's wrong with your leg." She asked.

"Nothing."

"I can see you limping, so either you show me your leg now, or I call Emily and Kevin in to look at it too." Mike thought about her ultimatum, and decided that the first option was the better choice, he didn't need his girlfriend and best friend seeing his weaknesses. He leant his leg up on the bench and rolled up his pant leg.

"Jesus Mike, what happened?" Mia asked in shock. She hadn't realized how bad it was.

"I got hit by the nighlok's weapon."

"And you didn't think to tell us. We could've helped."

" In what way? You guys were all sick, and more important than a little injury like mine." He rolled down his pant leg and stood up again.

"Mike, this isn't a little injury… and what do you mean we were all more important..."

"I mean that I didn't matter as much as you guys, you're all sick, I couldn't be bothered by an injury, I needed to be there…" Mike said, his temper rising. He wasn't mad at his friend, but was aggravated by all of the stress, the injury, and by the fact that he was sure he'd come down with something. He would never admit this, but he was glad mentor was coming home tomorrow. He was exhausted and having mentor bring medicine for his friends would put them all in a better mood, himself included.

"Mike, you matter as much as we all do to the team, why do you think we were more important?"

"Because it's true Mia, as soon as you guys were all better, I would go back to being the nothing on the team. I had to push myself away to help the more valuable member get better." Mike was talking lowly, now almost whispering, and he couldn't turn to face Mia, he was afraid she would be angry with him. What he didn't see was her face drop at the revelation. She stood up and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"Mike, you are so valuable to this team...contrary to what you think. You're just as important as we all are...maybe even more. You're the one who unravels us when we get too overwhelmed. You are the one who makes us laugh when we need to let loose. You are the one who Emily chose to love. You're the one who Kevin chose to be his best friend. You are the one who I chose to be my little brother. You are the one who takes care of his friends when they are sick. You are so valuable, so don't let anyone tell you different." Mia said, still hugging him. Once she let go she saw the tears threatening to fall from his eyes. She hugged him again and started to walk back to her room, feeling a bit dizzy, when she heard a hoarse croak from Mike.

"Thanks Mia… I needed that."

"You're welcome, anytime…" Then, the gap sensor started to blare.

"I better go."

"Good luck...we'll be watching."

"Thanks." He started to run out but was stopped by Mia's voice.

"And Mike…"

"Yeah…"

"You can do this… You are amazing…"

"Thanks Mia…" He grinned and ran out of the Shiba house. On his way into battle, thoughts swirled in his head.

_I can do this. I came to win. I am good enough. I will succeed. I am invincible._


	6. Round Two

_I do not own Power Rangers._

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Once Mike reached the location of the monster, several moogers attacked him. The monster was on his A-game. What the monster didn't know, was that Mike was too. He quickly defeated the pack of moogers and the two forces came face to face with each other. Both with determined looks on their faces.

"Come to test your luck again?" Temperinjantus yelled cockily, with a smirk locked onto his face.

"Ha! You wish, Nighlock!" Mike screamed back, and with a yell, charged at the monster.

It was a very heated battle and it seemed to be endless for both Mike and the nighlock. It Was well into the darkness when Mike finally started to gain the upper hand. Both were exhausted, Mike feeling more nauseous by the minute and the nighlock drying out, but neither of them were done yet. The nighlock prepared for an attack.

"DOUBLE STAR ATTACK!" The nighlock thundered and Mike, knowing better, dodged the attack quickly. His leg was in a lot of pain and he didn't think he could handle any more. He ran around the nighlock and tried to land another attack with his forest spear. It worked and the monster doubled over in pain as Mike caught his breath. He was becoming very dizzy and couldn't see well in the darkness. He coughed and ran up to the nighlock once again.

It was a back and forth battle but Mike was still always ahead. He was landing and dodging any and all attacks he could. Even Jayden and Mentor would be impressed. Soon though, the battle took it's wear on him and he felt incredibly sick. His head was spinning and he had a strong urge to throw up. His leg was also throbbing and he didn't think he could fight anymore. But he had to. For his friends.

He fought on and on, but the monster landed a critical attack on his weak spot. His leg. He was swept off of his feet and was very dazed, until he heard some very familiar voices in the distance.

"Go go samurai!" the voices yelled. He saw a few blurbs of color run from where he was sitting, but one stopped right in front of him and knelt down.

"Mike, are you okay?" It was Emily, his girlfriend.

"I'm fine... What are you guys doing here? You're sick." Mike asked, trying to stand up. Emily stuck her hand on Mike's forehead and sat him back down.

"No Mike, you're not fine. You have a fever. Mia was right. You're sick. She said you were hurt too." Emily said, concern etched in her voice.

"I _am_ fine, I'm just sweaty. And what is Mia right about? I don't have a fever."

"She said that you felt really overheated when she was talking to you this morning. And she said that your leg was all messed up. Mike, you're sick." Emily answered.

"I'm not sick. You guys are. Why are you here? You should be in bed."

"Mia felt okay, so she and Kevin went out to get some medicine and stuff. We all feel a lot better now."

"Oh, well…"

"Emily! We need help...come on!" Jayden hollered and Emily stood up to go into battle. Mike tried to stand up but Emily interrupted him.

"Mike stay here. You need to rest."

"But I'm fine…" he tried to respond but Emily was already in the fight.

Mike felt so helpless just sitting there, but that all went away when he got the strong sense that he was going to throw up. It had been growing up to this point but he couldn't deny it now. He was sick. He grabbed his stomach when it started to churn very uncomfortably. He knew what was coming next, so he started to run.

"I'll be right back…" He tried to yell, but it was quieter that he had meant it to be.

"Amigo... Where are you going?" Antonio hollered to his green friend. Leaving the other rangers confused, Mike demorphed and ran behind a car. He felt the bile rising in the back of his throat and as soon as he knew it, he was violently throwing up. It should have made him feel better, but he was starting to feel worse. His head was spinning and he was cold and tired and he wanted nothing more that to be curled up in his bed, asleep. Once he was done, he wiped his sleeve across his mouth and came out from behind the car.

"Mike, are you okay?" Mia asked.

"No." He admitted. But he wasn't accepting defeat that easily. "I'm coming though." He quickly morphed and started in on the battle again, despite his aching head and stomach. As much as his friends wanted him to rest, his perseverance was admirable and they all silently decided they would chew him out for being stupid when they were all feeling better.

"Uh, you rangers are getting on my nerves… DOUBLE STAR ATTACK!"

"Guys, watch out!" Mike hollered. They all dodged the attack and as the nighlock was still recovering from using so much energy, they prepared for the final strike.

"FIRE SMASHER! CANNON BLAST MODE!" Jayden yelled and they all put their disks into the large weapon.

"FINAL STRIKE!" They all said in unison as Jayden pushed forwards on the lever. All of the energy struck the nighlock in the chest. He exploded and all of the rangers assumed the final pose. They all knew what was coming next and soon enough, they were in mega mode battling the nighlock's giant form. Mike, still feeling very sick, was just following the other rangers as he was so exhausted and his brain was clouded in a giant fog. He was very dizzy, and the other rangers were helping him out as best as they could.

Once the monster was gone for good, any and all adrenaline Mike still had in him was gone and he was wavering on his feet, still trying to stay awake. The other rangers noticed this and were trying to get him to respond to them. But he couldn't hear them, he was so tired. It was like his brain had mentally checked out. As soon as his legs buckled and he fell to the floor, passed out, the other rangers knew it was serious. Mike was never like this. All was quiet inside the megazord cockpit.

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**A/N: Final chapter up either today or tomorrow... Please review!**


	7. When it's all said and done

I do not own Power Rangers.

* * *

"Mike...Mike...Mike! Are you okay?" Mike woke up from his peaceful sleep very disoriented and groggy. He was also extremely pissed off at whoever woke him up.

"Uhhh, I feel like I got hit by a truck." Laughter.

"I figured." He could hear that it was mentor. But where was he? He sat up rather quickly, but was met by a very bright light. His head started to ache and his stomach turned. He started to cough when he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Mike! Calm down, you're in your bed." That was Emily. She pulled her hand away and gave him a glass of water, which he gladly accepted. He gave the water back and fully sat up.

"Em, what happened... and why do I feel awful?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"You passed out last night. You were exhausted. And sick. You have a really bad fever. You threw up too." Huh, that explains the headache, and the dizzyness, and the stomache ache. Oh, the stomachache…

"Em, I need the trash can." She quickly grabbed the garbage can and placed it under his head, only for him to throw up a second time. Once he was done, she took the trash can back and set it next to his bed. He tried to shift but was brought with a very uncomfortable feeling in his leg.

"How does your leg feel?" Mia asked from the corner of the room.

"Like shit... What happened to it?" He asked.

"It was cut up pretty bad, mentor had to stitch it up. And it was infected. And your knee is sprained really bad. And…"

"What Emily is trying to say is that you won't be able to walk without crutches for a little while." Mentor answered. "You'll probably be out of battles and regular training for a few weeks."

"Out of training? Really? Yes!" He answered humorously.

"Regular training. You'll have to build up strength in your leg once the stitches come out." Mike groaned, and Mentor left the room with a chuckle, passing Kevin on the way out.

"Hey Mike." Kevin said.

"Hey. Dude, what's up?" Mike responded, lying back down into his pillow as his head began to hurt again. Kevin shifted awkwardly on his feet. "What's wrong, Kev?

"Um...I need to apologize. Mia told me how insensitive my comment was. I was being a jerk. I was so pissed off at the world for making me sick, and I took it out on you. You were being a good friend, a great friend, actually… And...I'm sorry."

"Did Kevin really just apologize to me? Mike?"

"Yeah, I didn't mean to make you feel that way. And I'm sorry." Kevin continued, ignoring Mike's joke.

"Dude, everything's cool. Mia helped me straighten everything out. Thanks Mia, by the way." Mike said with a smile.

"No problem Mike. Anything for you." She responded from the corner. Emily grabbed Mike's hand and giggled.

"It's funny how you're still yourself when your sick and hurt, while we acted so mean the whole time we were out. You know you have the right to act like a total shit right now, right."

"Emily! Language!" Mike fake scoffed.

"Why? It's funny when you do it. Why can't I?" She pleaded.

"It's natural on me: a hot, rebellious gamer, not on you: a sweet, small, innocent, beautiful farmgirl."

"Mike!" She yelled affectionately and she leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek. Kevin quickly cleared his throat from the corner and both Mike and Emily blushed a bright red, Mike's not from the fever.

"As much as Mia and myself would love to stay and watch the Emily and Mike lovefest show, You should probably get some sleep Mike." Mike nodded and leaned back so that he was laying down. Emily kissed his cheek again and exited the room, bouncing like a four year old who was jacked up on candy.

"Sleep well Mike…" Kevin said, and left right behind Emily. Mia walked over to Mike and sat down in the chair next to his bed.

"Mia..." Mike started.

"What's up Mike?" She asked.

"Is...it's just...Is what you said about me being valuable really true... I mean, I'll be out for a couple weeks and you guys probably won't even have a problem without me, and..."

"Mike," Mia interrupted, "You have to stop feeding into this... It's not good for you. If it wasn't for you, all of us would still be stuck in bed, and you might be with us. If you weren't good enough, we would have never beaten this nighlock. You are the reason that we're healthy. And it shows how true of a friend you are that you were willing to sacrifice your own health for us. Thank you for saving us. You're a hero." With that, she gave him a big hug and got up to give him some time to rest.

"Feel better, Mike."

Mike curled up in his blankets and said, "Thanks Mom." Mia rolled her he yes and walked out.

Mike didn't fall asleep right away though. Although he was exhausted, his thoughts kept him awake for a little while longer.

I can't believe I'm the hero. I saved the day. I couldn't have done it without my friends though. They are the best. Without them, I am strong, but together, we are invincible.

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**A/N: Finally done my first story! Thanks for reviewing. They really help for future stories and chapters. Any requests for what I should do next?**


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